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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 95 pts. and median of 95 pts. in 29 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by sfbikeguy on 1/27/2024: NR - Purchased recently from KL recently when they were selling a number of past vintages. Opened D1 with 3 hours of decanting. Tried the wine on opening and immediately regretted opening the bottle. It's too early to open this wine. Drank half of the bottle D1 with my somm buddy. Lots of tannins. Definitely high quality and got some 'maple syrup'. D2: settled down a bit. mix berry syrup and some vanilla with the oak. Again, too early to enjoy in my opinion.
Small side note: our brown bag included an '82 3 Palms and an '12 Pape Clement. Palms was excellent and Pape was excellent D2.
I have at least one of every Backus vintage going back to 1997 and I've only opened the 2004. Wait 20 on these. There are not many opportunities to enjoy and the wine needs to integrate.
Cheers. (1379 views) | | | Tasted by Darwine on 9/17/2023 & rated 96 points: Opened up nicely with a nose of dark fruit and some leatger. Further opening added a nice herbal essence - maybe a little cardigan. Flavors were full of dark cherry and blackberry with some ripe dark plum. Finish was beautiful with that dark fruit and a nice blackberry twinge of acid. A beautiful wine!! (1464 views) | | | Tasted by TrojanMatt on 8/27/2023: Decanted for an hour and drank over several hours. Smooth and seemed quite ready to drink in terms of well-integrated tannins, but strangely muted on the nose and on the palate. It was not corked or seemingly otherwise flawed, so maybe in a dumb phase, although others’ notes here don’t suggest that. I have more bottles, so I will try another one later and see if maybe it was just an off bottle somehow. (1216 views) | | | Tasted by markcic on 5/27/2023 & rated 95 points: This wine was opened three hours prior to dinner and drank against a 2013 Insignia and a 2006 Cos d'Estournel. The nose on this wine was spectacular with dark berries and hints of chocolate. The palate was dark berries, dark cherry, tobacco and chocolate leading to a long finish. My good Michael preferred this wine over the Insignia. I have rated them the same but I did prefer the Insignia. (1500 views) | | | Tasted by evanlyall on 4/15/2023 & rated 96 points: Awesome bottle. Will be good for many years is my guess. Bold but smooth (1428 views) | | | Tasted by Darwine on 7/24/2022 & rated 95 points: This wine is drinking quite well now but does have more life to it. Nose of leather and wood and dark fruit. Flavors were explosive with dark fruit of black cherry, black raspberry and a little cassis. Perfectly integrated tannins leaving a long and lush finish. Perfect with my perfect Ribeye steak!! (2041 views) | | | Tasted by Twopawsup on 6/25/2022 & rated 95 points: Deep purple color with slow legs. New oak, cassis and blackberry on the nose. Plum, black cherry and tobacco on the palate. Long leathery finish. (1780 views) | | | Tasted by jsebiri on 11/13/2021: Big purple, rich , juice , monster....too much for me. (2249 views) | | | Tasted by lescrooks on 11/26/2020 & rated 91 points: One bottle had turned bad when we opened it. Vinegary... (3040 views) | | | Tasted by BBencz on 5/31/2020: A beautiful cabernet that needs another 3-5 years to reach its peak. One hour decant. Leafy nose followed by sweet dark red fruit. Loads of cassis and mocha. Tannins and acid both still going strong. Finish goes on for 30+ seconds. Next one in 2025. (3108 views) | | | Tasted by Jim Yencken on 3/20/2020 & rated 96 points: Initial scents of green leaves and green fruit when first poured; very savoury. Dark colour and medium bodied, but surprisingly smooth, light and somehow peppery on the palate? Well balanced with initial juicy cherry flavours that resolve with satin dry wood, mushroom, and light tobacco. Incredible wine, enjoyed with excellent homemade pasta amatriciana while watching the surreal first round of the AFL on TV while the world ends. (2671 views) | | | Tasted by Darwine on 2/1/2020 & rated 96 points: Beautiful nose of blackberry - same as mid palate and the finish was phenomenal with fruit, leather and nice soft tannins. After 1/2 hour of opening, my swishing opened it up to my perfect balance!! (2742 views) | | | Tasted by vectorav on 11/3/2019 & rated 98 points: Opened for a tasting event with great friends. Still needs a little more time but is an outstanding wine! (2493 views) | | | Tasted by jmorgand on 6/24/2017 & rated 94 points: Excellent with a long decant. (6651 views) | | | Tasted by Jeffkunins on 4/26/2017 & rated 94 points: agree on the recco that needs more time and 2019+ will be best... but wanted to try one for now.
insanely long (5 min+) finish. (5173 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, Napa Valley Trilogy: 2014, 2015 & 2016-Part1 (Dec 2016) (12/1/2016)
(Joseph Phelps Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Backus Vineyard Napa Valley) Subscribe to see review text. | By James Suckling
JamesSuckling.com (1/15/2016)
(Joseph Phelps Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley Backus, United States) Subscribe to see review text. | By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, 2013 Napa Valley: Once Upon a Time in America… (Oct 2015) (10/1/2015)
(Joseph Phelps Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Backus Vineyard Napa Valley) Subscribe to see review text. | By Antonio Galloni
Vinous, New Releases from Napa Valley: 2012 and 2013 (Dec 2014) (9/1/2014)
(Joseph Phelps Cabernet Sauvignon Backus Vineyard Oakville) Subscribe to see review text. |
NOTE: Scores and reviews are the property of Vinous and JamesSuckling.com. (manage subscription channels) |
| Joseph Phelps Producer website
In the late 60s, Joseph Phelps was running one of the largest construction companies in the U.S. when he won the bid to build Souverain Winery (now Rutherford Hill) located a few miles outside of St. Helena. Enamored with the beautiful Napa Valley and contemplating a career change, in 1973 he bought the 600-acre Connolly cattle ranch in Spring Valley, and began planting vineyards. The winery was completed in 1974 and that same year the first Syrah was made, the first grapes were crushed at the new facility and the first Insignia was produced. It was a period of unparalleled activity, creativity, ingenuity, entrepreneurship and risk-taking and it put Joe Phelps on the map of top Napa Valley wine producers.
Nearly four decades later, the flagship wine, Insignia, is recognized as one of the world’s great wines. Twenty nine of 34 vintages have been rated ninety or more points by various wine publications. From 1990 to 2007, the average score from Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate is 94.5 pts., with the lowest score still a fabulous 91. The 2002 vintage was “Wine of the Year” by Wine Spectator Magazine, and the 2007 vintage has been rated 98 points by Robert Parker and 96 points by Wine Spectator Magazine.
Over the years, the goal of becoming 100% estate grown resulted in carefully planned acquisitions of prime vineyards in the Napa Valley. Today, the Phelps estate consists of the Spring Valley Home Ranch outside of St. Helena, Banca Dorada in Rutherford, Las Rocas and Barboza vineyards in Stags Leap, Yountville Vineyard in Oak Knoll, Suscol Vineyard in South Napa and Backus Vineyard in Oakville.
Beginning with the 2009 vintage, estate-grown wines include Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Insignia, Backus (the single vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon from Oakville) and Eisrébe, a dessert wine made from the Scheurebe grape. In addition, a small amount of Syrah is produced from fruit owned by Hyde Vineyards in Los Carneros.
Though the main focus is on Bordeaux varietals, Joe Phelps has had a life-long love affair with the wines of Burgundy and a desire to craft wines in that style. Originally Chardonnay was sourced from St. Helena, later from Yountville and then from Los Carneros. Through the years, however, Joe continued to search for the ideal spot to grow both Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, and his search ended when the perfect combination of climate, soil and location was found in Freestone, located in the Sonoma Coast AVA, a mere eight miles from the Pacific Ocean. In 1999, 200 acres were acquired and planting began. Today, 80 acres of Pinot Noir and 20 acres of Chardonnay are producing some remarkable wines which are available for tasting at the Freestone Guest Center. Visit Freestone Vineyards to learn more.Cabernet SauvignonCabernet Sauvignon is probably the most famous red wine grape variety on Earth. It is rivaled in this regard only by its Bordeaux stablemate Merlot, and its opposite number in Burgundy, Pinot Noir. From its origins in Bordeaux, Cabernet has successfully spread to almost every winegrowing country in the world. It is now the key grape variety in many first-rate New World wine regions, most notably Napa Valley, Coonawarra and Maipo Valley. Wherever they come from, Cabernet Sauvignon wines always seem to demonstrate a handful of common character traits: deep color, good tannin structure, moderate acidity and aromas of blackcurrant, tomato leaf, dark spices and cedarwood.
Used as frequently in blends as in varietal wines, Cabernet Sauvignon has a large number of common blending partners. Apart from the obvious Merlot and Cabernet Franc, the most prevalent of these are Malbec, Petit Verdot and Carmenere (the ingredients of a classic Bordeaux Blend), Shiraz (in Australia's favorite blend) and in Spain and South America, a Cabernet – Tempranillo blend is now commonplace. Even the bold Tannat-based wines of Madiran are now generally softened with Cabernet SauvignonUSAAmerican wine has been produced since the 1500s, with the first widespread production beginning in New Mexico in 1628. Today, wine production is undertaken in all fifty states, with California producing 84% of all U.S. wine. The continent of North America is home to several native species of grape, including Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia, Vitis rotundifolia, and Vitis vulpina, but the wine-making industry is based almost entirely on the cultivation of the European Vitis vinifera, which was introduced by European settlers. With more than 1,100,000 acres (4,500 km2) under vine, the United States is the fourth-largest wine producing country in the world, after Italy, Spain, and France.California2021 vintage: "Unlike almost all other areas of the state, the Russian River Valley had higher than normal crops in 2021, which has made for a wine of greater generosity and fruit forwardness than some of its stablemates." - Morgan Twain-Peterson Napa Valley Napa Valley Wineries and Wine (Napa Valley Vintners)Oakville |
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